Forum

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

This lady is selling hand made toys and some of them look great, and quite a few people have left great feedback that their rabits love it, but is everything she uses safe? One of the items are pumice, is that safe?

dmh426Syracuse, New York

435 posts

9/14/2007 10:57 AM

Pumice is safe, it's great for the teeth but my bunny doesn't like the taste of it, so that's a no go. the willow balls are great, i actually have bought them from this eBay seller. She doesn't spray any lacquer on them, so just make sure if you buy them there is no preservative chemicals on them and that it's all safe. I am totally an eBay addict. I also love eBay seller FrmrDave (I think that's right. He also has a website, just google Farmer Dave). He has great rabbit products that my bun goes crazy for. To be honest though, my bunny Sophie really loves stuff that I make at home. Paper bags, cardboard boxes, cardboard tubes with hay, the bordom buster on this site is amazing!!! See the toytest area for more. It's awesome and hysterical to watch them play in. I dry apples for Sophie and hang them and hide them all over her cage, it's a bordeom buster for her to search all over for the treats, instead of just giving them to her.

MooBunnayDallas, Texas (Allen)

3088 posts

9/14/2007 11:57 AM

Hello! All these toys look like a lot of fun for rabbits The only thing that I personally wouldn't buy is the one with apple chunks, because I can't really tell how big the chunks of apple are, but I know those are very sugary so probably not so good for the bunny. My bun's personal favorite is the grass ball (there are some on the store on this site) and they love those because I put their veg in there, and raisins and other stuff to play with!

Scarlet_RoseColorado

4371 posts

9/14/2007 4:27 PM

I am concerned about a few things.

1- What kind of dye is used for the chew treats?

2- Has the pecan wood been aged? I am not even sure of its safety., I can see why she would use it because it is a hardwood though. The usual chew woods for bunnies are fruit trees, willow and pine. Of course they tempt with solid oak chair legs and gnaw at solid cherry furniture as well. I'm going to do a bit more research.

OK well it seems that pecan and hazelnut are OK but walnut is not along with almond and chestnut and any red wood. I would steer clear of peach, apricot and cherry wood because some groups say that it is OK if thoroughly dry and others do not , so I just play it safe and do not use them. Of course they all need to be organic, unsprayed and untreated trees and wood, not to mention no sap!

3- Bamboo I would not consider safe as it splinters and can lodge in a bunny's mouth and not to mention wedge between the teeth.

4- The apple discs I would avoid, dried fruit contains so much more concentrated sugar than fresh, only a teeny tiny amount is OK for bunnies.

Like Moobunnay mentioned, BB here has a great shop with some awesome treats as well and you might be pleased to know that the willow treats she gets are from a lady who makes them herself as well and I know that they are all bunny safe.

Pumice I don't consider safe while its chemical structure is pretty harmless. Anything that is not digestable is a risk for a bunny as it can remain in their GI tract and cause impaction. While some may say that they will not eat that much and will just pass through, I play the safe side and besides, a bunny diet really is not in need of a pumice stone as the hay does a great job keeping the choppers filed down. I have however heard that a pumice stone works great for grooming a bunny!

medinaserpaPhilomath, OR

248 posts

9/17/2007 1:25 PM

I couldn't figure out what apple chunks you were talking about, but I went back and looked. It is not chunks of apple, but the wood. And she says that the dye she uses are fda human safe dye. I would rather get undied to be safe. Why would the rabbits care what color it is?

Scarlet_RoseColorado

4371 posts

9/17/2007 4:20 PM

OK apple wood is much better, the colors are more of a fancy to catch human eyes to buy them for the pet and no, the rabbits don't care what color it is. The dyes are bad for a bunny, FDA approved or not. Unless they are vegetable dye, forget it, and like you, I would rather not have dye at all.

You are not authorized to post a reply or you have not verified your email address.